Literary choices: Title

        Why is the book titled A Raisin in The Sun? After doing some research, it is discovered that the title is derived from a popular Langston Hughes poem, "A Dream Deferred". After more research, I unearthed that Langston Hughes was a Harlem Renaissance writer. While the play is not literally about a dried grape basking in sunlight, it certainly holds quite a few deferred dreams. I found it quite witty to have a title that can not be deciphered with mere observation, but one that takes effort to discern.

        The word defer literally means to put off or postpone, so a deferred dream is referencing the idea of putting something off until tomorrow because maybe the time wasn't right or the situation didn't allow for it. Each character has deferred dreams, to those of home-ownership to education. "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" is the question posed by Hughes. A Raisin in The Sun tells of dreams that were not possible that dry up in hopes of a better tomorrow.

Langston Hughes

Symbols

The most overt symbol in the play is Mama’s plant. It represents both Mama’s care and her dream for her family.  She confesses that the plant never gets enough light or water, but she takes pride in how it nevertheless flourishes under her care. Even without the luxury of having more than needed but at least the necessary she is able to keep alive this plant. Her care for her plant is similar to her care for her children in a way, unconditional and unending despite a less-than-perfect environment for growth.
The plant also symbolizes her dream to own a house and, more specifically, to have a garden and a yard. With her plant, she practices her gardening skills for when she will eventually needs them.Her success with the plant helps her believe that she would be successful as a gardener. Her persistence and dedication to the plant fosters her hope that her dream may come true some day.

Feminism in A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry comprises of a myriad of representations of feminism. The female characters of the play are not completely the traditional, American types of women.  Mama, Ruth, and Beneatha each manifest feministic qualities that venture away from the stereotypes that many individuals have about females in 20th-century America.  

Beneatha, an aspiring medical school student, boldly states  “Listen, I’m going to be a doctor. I’m not worried about who I’m going to marry yet-- if I ever get married” (50). Unlike the average view of an American woman, Beneatha takes on the challenge of completing medical school to become a doctor. Although she has Asagai in her life for some time, her choosing to earn an education supports the argument that women do not need men to be successful in life and that women can do the same things as men. Her view on opportunity can be linked to Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/ows/seminars/tcentury/FeminineMystique.pdf

Ruth is an individual who portrays the typical role of a woman in a relationship as she sits home and cooks and cleans for the Younger’s household. In contrary to the homemaking role that she is labeled with in the play, Ruth is also a house servant to wealthy people: “I can’t stay home…. I got to go in. We need money,” (42-43).  This defies the view of women not being capable of performing jobs outside of their household.

In terms of Mama, her assertiveness serves as an accurate example of how Hansberry uses feminist representations in her female characters. When talking about Beneatha’s future, she puts her foot down and ensures the family that money would be put away for her tuition: “...ain’t nothing gonna touch that part of it. Nothing” (44).
                                                     
                                                     

Theme: Pride

        Pride is portrayed in an extremely strong sense in A Raisin in the Sun. Since the play is illustrating a family with little else to their name, pride is a means for them to hold on to their dignity and promote their worth as human beings. When the neighborhood representative comes to their door and offers to buy out their house, the family is not resilient to kick him out. This decision is showcased as a conflict between pride and money. In the end, pride wins out in the Younger family.

        "The furnishings of this room were actually selected with care and love and even hope" (1.1), showing that even their furniture radiated a sense of pride at one point. Age is a respectful thing, and the Younger family is no exception to this principle. They see the value in what things once were; in furniture and people.Through unhappiness, poverty, selfishne
ss, fighting, the Younger family will always have their pride, and that shows their strength.

The Maturation Process of Walter

Throughout A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry constructs Walter’s character in a complex way. Early in the play, Hansberry portrays Walter as a selfish, narcissistic man who wants to lead his family but cannot fathom his personal weakness: immaturity.

Sean "Diddy" Combs as Walter Younger

Walter has ample opportunities to support his family but is oftentimes blinded by his overzealous goals. His lack of concern for the Younger’s desires’ are displayed through his actions. He possesses an uncanny ability to shut the goals of his family members down. To reciprocate this, Beneatha sarcastically implies that Walter, like many other men, will “lead [them] out of the wilderness [and] into the swamps” (38).

Walter’s clash with his family resembles a lack of experience. Replacing the role of his father, which seems to be his intent, is not a simple task. Walter struggles with gaining the acceptance of his family because of his varying wishes for the Younger’s.

Toward the end of the play, readers have a chance to evaluate Walter as he molds into the man that he always expects to be. Upon receiving a housing opportunity in an unaccepting, predominantly-white neighborhood, Walter expects to “put on a show” and accept Mr. Lindner’s offer (142). After losing the insurance money with his investment partner, he exemplifies maturity by declining the offer. This is the first time Walter makes such a pivotal decision without being harassed by his family. Walter displays the qualities of a real leader.

Walter, ultimately, put his dreams for riches aside, and his family’s interest first, by declining this offer. Mama finally recognizes the authority of Walter. She says, “ My son said we was going to move and there ain’t nothing left for me to say” (148-149). Walter Younger was able to acknowledge his family’s wants without placing emphasis on his own.

Connecting link: http://allpoetry.com/Maturity

(This is a link to a poem by Philip Larkin that poetically describes a common maturation process)

Biblical Allusion

Mr. Lindner comes to the Younger residence to tell them they are not wanted in Clybourne Park and offers them more than what they paid to not take up residence in the neighborhood. When he says this, Beneatha replies saying, “Thirty pieces and not a coin less!” (118). This is a biblical allusion to when Jesus was betrayed by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane. His arrest sealed by Judas’ kiss was the beginning of the path that lead to His crucifixion as prophesized. Thirty pieces of silver was the price Judas was paid to hand Jesus over to the Roman Empire. To make matters worse, in that time period, thirty pieces of silver was around the price that one would pay for a slave thus suggesting that He was worth that of a slave rather than the Messiah. As one of Jesus’ disciples, Judas made the ultimate betrayal and returned the money out of guilt after Jesus was arrested. It wasn’t until he saw the consequences of his actions that he realized not enough money in the world was enough to make such a betrayal. In the same way, Beneatha believes that there is no offer nor monetary amount large enough to convince them, or her at least, to leave Clybourne Park and move to a predominately black community. Making such a deal would be underestimating the Younger family’s worth and thus encouraging discrimination and the idea that whites should live with whites and blacks should live with blacks.

Standing Up to Racial Discrimination

The Younger’s family perseveres through all the discrimination that they are faced with and that has evidently been a theme towards the end of the story. Mr. Lindner tries to talk the Younger’s family out of occupying the house because the “majority of our people out there” (the people of Clybourne Park) do not want Negroes living in their neighborhood. “Our association is prepared… to buy the house from you at a financial gain to your family.” (118). Lindner tries to bribe the Younger’s family to not move in their house by offering more than what they had paid for the house in the first place. Although this would be beneficial financially to the Younger’s family, they shut it down and they don’t even consider the offer; hence Walter firmly stating, “Get out of my house, man.” (119), shortly after Lindner had proposed the deal.

            The Younger’s displayed their strength to fend off discrimination and take deep pride into their race. “I come from five generations of people who was slaves and sharecroppers… ain’t nobody in my family never let nobody pay ‘em no money that was a way of telling us we wasn’t fit to walk the earth.” (143). The Younger’s defiance to stand up against the racial discrimination resembles Martin Luther King Junior’s  idea of Civil disobedience to stop racism. They do not give in and show weakness to the “crackers” because that will only prolong the means of discrimination.

http://theindependent.ca/2014/01/20/dr-martin-luther-king-strategies-and-tactics-of-civil-disobedience/

Juxtaposition

Beneatha embraces her heritage.

One prominent literary device Hansberry uses is juxtaposition. There are multiple instances of this usage spanning the length of the novel, but one in particular is very clear.

Beneatha is first seen in a romantic context with Asagai, the current man of her choosing, in the second scene. The two bicker, but it is clear that they care for one another and have been learning from one another over the course of their relationship. Upon first seeing him, Beneatha says, "Asagai, I'm very glad you are back." (61). Asagai brings her gifts and, though he seems a bit harsh, he tries to teach Beneatha to be herself and not lose her identity and heritage.


The rapport between Beneatha and George tells a different story. For starters, we as the readers have already heard that Beneatha is not very fond of George, and only goes out with him to satisfy her family. "Oh, I just mean I couldn't ever really be serious about George. He's--he's so shallow," Beneatha states when Mama and Ruth ask why George's money and status aren't enough for Beneatha (48). Later, when George and Beneatha share their first scene together, Beneatha has just cut her hair and George does not approve. "What have you done to your head--I mean your hair!" he exclaims, and then later calls the new look "eccentric" (80). Like the Youngers, George disagrees with Beneatha's radical tendencies.

George does not approve; Beneatha is indignant.

These two scenes, which both feature Beneatha, her suspected beau, traditional African style, and the idea of assimilationism show how the two men are extreme opposites. Asagai stands for all that is radical in he modern word of the mid-20th century, while George still clings to the traditional values he shares with the rest of the Youngers. By contrasting these two men, Hansberry symbolizes the constant battle between old and new, static and dynamic, safe and dangerous, and highlights the ever-present obstacle that is the generation gap.

Theme

            A Raisin in the Sun's theme could be interpreted several ways. There are many different themes throughout this play, but the most important and most evident is the importance of family and pride in a family. This theme truly comes to light in the last scene of the play when everything unravels and the play comes to a conclusion.

Beneatha, Walter, and Mama are tired, apathetic and ready to give up on each other. This is the lowest point of despair that we have seen the Younger’s sink to. The importance of family in this story is unmistakable, especially when Beneatha rejects Walter as a brother for losing the money. Mama stresses the importance of family when she says, “he’s at his lowest and can’t believe in hisself” (pg 145).  Beneatha and Walter both grow into strong adults after this moment, realizing the impact of Mamas words. Walter says to Lindner, “We don’t want your money” (pg 148) and his family, including Beneatha, support this decision. This single line summarizes Walters’s journey in becoming a man. As I stated in my last blog , Walter is a dynamic character who, in the end, grows up to be a man who realizes the importance of having pride in one's family. If the Younger’s can overcome this and stay together, then they can stay together through anything.

Even though families may go through rough times, Hansberry shows that a strong family is not only invincible, but can also learn to love unconditionally and have pride in each other. As Mama put it, “There is always something left to love” (pg 145) and it is important to never lose sight of that with family.

Themes

The importance of family is a constant reoccurring theme which can be found through-out the entire play. The Youngers family struggles both socially and economically from the beginning to the end of the play. Socially, the Youngers is a black family facing various problems such as discrimination and being judged by color rather than their personality and values. Economically they are very poor going from pay check to pay check hoping some day they will catching break (the insurance money coming in from the death of their father) instead of going out making a change for themselves. However one thing would unite them all together, their dream of buying a new house.

Mama strongly believes in the importance of family, and she tries to teach this value to her family as she struggles to keep them together and functioning. Walter and Beneatha learn this lesson about family at the end of the play, when Walter must deal with the loss of the stolen insurance money and Beneatha denies Walter as a brother. Even facing such trauma, they come together to reject Mr. Lindner’s racist overtures. This portrays the significance of family and how the Youngers can come all together to face problem. Individually they are strong but united almost nothing will be impossible for the family. Furthermore now putting each others dreams before their own, they are able to reach their family's dream too.